Daily Times

Academicians and researchers have demanded to establish rehabilitation centers for prisoners both convicts and under trial at the district or divisional levels to make Punjab jail inmates productive citizens of the country.

Speaking in a two-day workshop on Higher Education Commission (HEC) approved research project titled “Modernisation of Probation Services, Assessment of Risks, Needs of Prisoners”, they said that Punjab Probation and Parole Service Department should be made more active by increasing salaries, perks, and privileges of the employees.

These views were expressed by Professor Dr. Abdul Saboor, Dean of the Department of Social Sciences of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agricultural University, Professor Mazhar Hussain Bhutta, Chairman of the Department of Criminology and Sociology, Director of the Department of Gender and Crime Lab of the University of Carleton, Canada, Prof. Shelley Brown, Fatima Jinnah Women’s University Department of Law and Policy Dr. Nadia, Additional Director NAB Training and Research Yusuf Khan, Deputy Director of National Academy for Prison Administration Javed Iqbal Khokhar, Deputy Director of National Police Bureau Mian Muhammad Irfan, Spokesperson of Punjab Probation and Parole Department, Hasan Raza Higher Education Commission (HEC) approved research project. As many as 15 Probation Officers of the Punjab Probation and Parole Department specially participated in the workshop while Ph.D., MPhil and BS students of the Sociology Department of the University also presented their research papers.

In his opening remarks, Professor Mazhar Hussain Bhutta, the investigator officer of the project and Chairman of the Department of Criminology and Sociology of the University, stressed the need to make the rehabilitation of prisoners, convicts, under-trial and their counseling as more effective as practiced in the world. The number of probation officers should also be enhanced to match the ratio of prisoners sent for probation.

Quoting data from January 2022, he said some 55,687 prisoners and other inmates were sent on probation from across Punjab jails, but the number of probation and parole officers deployed for their counseling is not sufficient to meet the challenge. The counseling of prisoners can be made more effective by increasing the number of probation officers.

He said Punjab Probation and Parole Department is mandated to make the prisoners take them out of the crime world and make them productive citizens of the country. It also includes assessing the mental health and social needs of the prisoners during the probation period.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Saboor, Dean of Social Sciences, urged the concerned to devise a common future strategy to cope with the challenges. He lauded the efforts of Professor Bhutta and his team for their valuable contributions.

He hoped that the recommendations, prepared after perusing the prevailing system at the global level, would prove helpful for government policymakers.

Director of the Department of Gender and Crime Lab of the University of Carleton, Canada, Prof. Shelley Brown said he was working with Professor Bhutta for the last five years in the Department of Sociology and on other various forums.

A good theory and thinking for solving social problems will put us in the right direction. The need of the hour is to increase the efficiency of the officers attached to the Punjab Probation and Parole Department.

He said that various agencies around the world use more than 400 assessment tools with the help of which practical steps are taken to make prisoners useful citizens of society while living within the law, we should also make use of these methods.

He suggested that the probation period for prisoners who are involved in serious and immoral crimes should be from one to three years. Other speakers said that increasing the efficiency of the probation officers of Punjab Probation and Parole Services, who play a key role in counseling prisoners in prisons, in the context of international standards, immediate step to close the gap in the assessment and rehabilitation process.

The Probation officers of the Punjab Probation and Parole Department informed the participants about the issues and challenges faced by their institution.

Director Oric Khalid Saifullah Khan, Dr. Irfan Janjua, Dr. Rashid, and other faculty members were also present.